If I Help You
by Mew Skitty
Summary: Syrus hated Hassleberry from the moment he met, and he was determined to keep it that way forever. The annoying freshman had now become his rival for Jaden's friendship, and seemed to despise him as well. But what would happen if they eventually stopped fighting so hard and actually tried to help each other? K for references to violence, but nothing on screen. Jurassicshipping.
1. Bad Introductions

"Come on, spill it!" Jaden could tell that something had been weighing on Syrus all day, he just couldn't tell what. But whatever it was, he figured it was related to the incidents of missing duel disks around campus.

"You know the west river, right? Over by the main bridge?"

"Yeah… what about it?"

"Well… there's this bully who hangs out over there- Ah! So I hear! And he forces you to duel him. Uh… so I'm told."

"Yeah… and?"

"And, if you lose, his gang takes your duel disk away!"

Jaden was still unconvinced. Something about Syrus' face told him there was more to the story. He could just see it. Having known him for over a year now, he was able to read his face pretty accurately.

"What else d'ya know? Come on."

"I'm just tellin' ya what I heard! He might not even exist. For all I know, this guy is just a myth. The big, ugly musclehead."

Jaden stopped for a moment to observe his friend. When he stopped paying attention to his face, he focused on the rest of his body for a clue. That's when he noticed something more alarming.

"Hey, where's your duel disk?"

Syrus gasped, and stood frozen in place.

"Ah! Well…"

...

_"Hold it right there, civilian!"_

_Syrus was stopped by an intimidatingly large male standing in the center of the bridge. He paused, then cocked his head to the side._

_"Um… hi? Can I help you?"_

_He finally opened his eyes to stare him down._

_"DRAW YOUR DUEL DISK!"_

_"What?!"_

_"Ya heard me!" Five other students, all of them in Ra Yellow, came up behind him. Now that he had others to compare him to, this new student was also clearly in Ra Yellow, his uniform albeit ripped and off color. "If you wanna cross this bridge without bein' beat up, then ya gotta face me, first!"_

_"Oh yeah? Fine! I can take you!"_

_"Alright, pipsqueak." He opened his own duel disk on his broad arm. "Just one stipulation: if I win, I get to keep ya duel disk!"_

_"What?" Was this guy seriously threatening to steal his duel disk if he lost…? "That can't be allowed!"_

_"Pfft! Tell that to the thirteen other people who challenged me!"_

_He opened his duel disk._

_"Get your game on!"_

_"State your name, civilian!"_

_"Syrus Truesdale! And who do I have the displeasure of speaking to?"_

_"Hassleberry! Codename: Tyranno!"_

_Later that night, Syrus came to his dorm room in bruises. Jaden was fast asleep, and Chazz didn't bother enough to notice. He groaned, rolling onto the bed._

_"Bout' time you came back, slacker," Chazz yawned. His voice wasn't in a whisper, but it was quiet enough as to not wake Jaden. "Did ya hear that some kid's boxers got hung up on the flag pole today? Third one this week."_

_He groaned. He didn't just hear it. He knew all about it..._

...

"Sy! Did you duel this guy and lose?"

Syrus frowned, and finally gave in to the humiliation.

"...yes! And he took my lunch money, too!"

"In that case… I say we take the long way home."

Of course. There was no way Jaden would ever turn down an enticing offer for a duel! Syrus was pretty scared for him. Although he never by any means doubted Jaden's capabilities as a duelist, this Hassleberry guy was big. And _terrifying._ Even if Jaden had won, what was stopping him and his gang from beating them up anyway? They were definitely larger than them.

Although Syrus was focused on the fight, there was another thing that was on his mind throughout the match. A deep part inside him was excitedly reveling in the revenge that Jaden was about to dish out on his behalf. And, as expected, he won! Hassleberry was defeated in less than a half hour, and they could finally put the incident behind them, forgetting about each other's existence.

Or so he thought…

...

It was now lunchtime the day after Hassleberry moved in. Syrus opened one of his eyes to glare at him when he came to sit down.

"Really," he questioned. "You just waltz into our room uninvited and now you're coming to sit with us, too?"

"Sure," he quickly replied. "Sarge is gonna be sittin' here, so I might as well, too! I'm gonna be his wingman, after all!"

"Sarge…? Are you talking about Jaden?" Hassleberry quickly nodded in response. "Well, I'll have you know, _I'm_ his best friend, so don't get your hopes up too high."

"Heh! You won't be for long with your duelin' skills, soldier."

Syrus was immediately ready to shoot back a response when Jaden appeared just in the nick of time.

"Hey guys! Hassleberry! You sitting with us now?"

"Yup!"

Syrus opened his mouth to object, but was interrupted by Jaden in an instant.

"Cool!"

He grumbled a little. Did Jaden seriously forget the previous day so quickly? Or did he just not care? He nudged him a little and leaned into his ear.

"Jaden," he mumbled, "are you sure this is a good idea…?"

He smiled.

"Of course, Sy. Why wouldn't it?"

His mind immediately went to thoughts of pointing out he literally beat him up, among other things! But, unwilling to cause a scene, he sighed. Amidst their conversation, Hassleberry had already introduced himself to both Bastion and Alexis. It looked like he was already acclimated into their group of friends.

This was going to be a long year...


	2. A Different Winner

_"Look at that," Jaden chuckled to him. "I guess you won't have to worry about rooming with Hassleberry anymore!"_

_"Yeah..." The idea of leaving Hassleberry had left Syrus elated, but he still hated the idea of leaving Jaden, his best friend!_

_"What's wrong? Didn't you want to upgrade to Ra Yellow?"_

_"Well, yes. But... I kinda want to do what Hassleberry did, and stick with you guys."_

_Jaden cocked his head to the side and smiled._

_"Really? That's great!"_

_"Well, there's just one problem. Our room is too cramped. It wasn't meant to be a quad! So... I really don't know if I want to live in the other dorm, just for some more room."_

_Before Jaden could say anything, a familiar voice interjected._

_"Then it's your lucky day, loser!" The two saw, to their surprise, Chazz standing there. Syrus was so excited by the news he didn't even realize he was wearing mostly white, the complete opposite to his typical color choice. "You two have one less man to worry about!"_

_"Really," he asked, smiling ear to ear. "So Hassleberry finally moved out?!"_

_"No."_

_"Aww..."_

_As much as Syrus' overdramatic disdain concerned Jaden, he was more curious about Chazz._

_"So, you finally made it into Obelisk Blue again, huh?"_

_"No. I made it into something better." Both boys gave him a puzzled look as he pointed at Syrus. "You see, while this dweeb was dueling to get into Ra Yellow, I was dueling to get somewhere better: the Society of Light! So, I'm going to be staying at **their** dorm now!"_

_Jaden smiled._

_"That's nice! Now there's an extra bed for Hassleberr-"_

_Syrus' nostrils began to flare. He hated the idea of Hassleberry claiming the empty bed, making his stay in their room permanent. Chazz laughed and walked away._

_"Let the big dork know that my space is already cleared out. He can claim the bed whenever he likes."_

_He walked away quickly, leaving the other two dumbfounded at his bizarrely different attitude. In the end, though, Chazz was always a little bit of a jerk. Perhaps he was having an off day._

...

After Jaden went missing, it was a miracle that Syrus and Hassleberry didn't kill each other. They definitely came close to it earlier that day, both of them still having a couple good bruises that wouldn't go away for at least a week. Occasionally, Syrus had wished he took up the offer and transferred to the Ra dorm. Without Jaden, what purpose was there to being there?

He shook his head, glaring at Hassleberry in the dark of night. He was fast asleep, the lazy fool. So he doubted he would notice him being gone if he ran out in the middle of the night.

So that's exactly what he decided to do.

He closed the door quietly and tip-toed outside and walked down the ladder and onto the cool night grass. He noticed how dark the forest was now. How big. How scary...

But Jaden was more important than that! He gulped down his fears and began walking into the forest.

"Hey!"

The voice made him practically jump out of his skin. It was Atticus.

"Atticus?!" He suddenly quieted his voice down to not wake anyone else. "What are you doing here?!"

He shrugged.

"I've been hanging out here since those creepy Society of Light guys started going all around the Obelisk dorm. What about you?" He looked at him, then into the woods. "You're not going in there, are you?"

He nodded.

"I'm going to look for Jaden!"

He stepped in front of him.

"No way, buddy! That's too dangerous!" It was clear the concern in Syrus' eyes that he wouldn't listen to reason. So, he came up with something completely off topic. "Your duel with Hassleberry's tomorrow! Aren't you gonna want to rest for it?"

"And sleep in the same room with that dino brain! No way!"

And with that, he walked into the forest, leaving Atticus to climb onto the roof of the Slifer dorm to sleep, as he had done the night before.

...

Hassleberry was down to 200 life points. He was stuck in a never-ending chain. The only thing his Ultimate Tyranno could attack was Decoyroid, and if he attacked it, it would be special summoned on the field again only to drain another 300 life points!

The dinosaur went to charge.

"Wait! Don't charge!" The dinosaur went onwards to Decoyroid anyways. The attack would never be officially followed through with until he gave the command. It was a command he didn't want to give. "As if I had a choice," he mumbled.

He studied his hand. There wasn't anything that could help him. He could only summon his cards _after_ his dinosaur was done attacking! But maybe the answer wasn't in his hand. Maybe, it was on the field. There was a lone card sitting there facedown. He racked his brain to remember what it was. What did he put down again? He knew it wasn't a trap. It was a spell, trying to bait fear out of Syrus by tricking him into thinking he had the ultimate trap. But what was the specific card?

He gasped when he remembered what it was. Dino Stomp! When his dinosaur declared an attack, he'd be able to play it. And once he played it, any spell or trap card Syrus had could be destroyed! And he had his sights set on his Cyber Summon Blaster! He only had 200 life points, but with his blaster gone, he still had the chance to turn it around!

Bastion shouted, steering him away from his thoughts.

"Syrus!"

Alexis chimed in.

"You don't look so good, Sy!"

"Uh," he mumbled. "I'll be fine. Just haven't been getting much sleep..."

Atticus' eyes opened wide and he momentarily lowered his flag.

"Did being out lookin' for Jaden really take that much of a toll on ya, buddy?"

Alexis' jaw dropped.

"What?!"

"A search and rescue?" Hassleberry quit planning to get a clearer story. "But he may not even be on the island!"

"Of course he's still on the island," Syrus insisted. "Where else would he go? I don't know about you guys, but if Jaden is lost, I'm gonna do something about it!"

"A true best friend..." He sighed and looked at the card face down on the field. He could play it, and potentially get the upper hand. But instead, he accepted defeat, allowing Ultimate Tyranno to attack Decoyroid once again.

He stayed back when Syrus fell to the ground. Bastion and Alexis rushed to his side while Atticus walked over to him.

"Minus five stars," he said, "for not having faith!" Hassleberry looked at him confusedly, then pointed at his duel disk. "What was the card you had face down for so long?"

"Oh, uh, just another Dino Stomp. If I'd have played it, then maybe-"

"Atticus!"

Alexis was marching over to them, angrier than she'd ever been. As she began to yell at her brother for letting Syrus go into those woods by himself, Hassleberry went through his deck to see if there was anything he could have done to stop Syrus' never-ending chain.

_Meteoric Collision, _he read. _F__or the price of 1000 life points, this trap destroys every single card on the field! If only I'd have gotten this in the duel..._

But then, he sighed, looking at Bastion continuing to check on Syrus' well-being while Alexis yelled at her brother nonstop. Maybe he hadn't given the little guy enough credit...

Author's note: Disclaimer: I'm sorry I suck at writing duels! And it's especially hard in the anime when they don't follow them! Like, maybe I'm just stupid, but I swear I don't know where his face down card even came from! And especially how he didn't know what it was. So I just changed what card it was entirely and made it so he knew what it was, he just didn't remember. Also, this mostly follows the general timeline, but Chazz was inducted into the Society of Light sooner so Syrus could continue to be roommates with them. The other notable change is the card Hassleberry lists off here is Meteoric Impact. That card doesn't exist. The card he talks about in this scene is Jurassic Impact, but that effect isn't Jurassic Impact, so I changed the name entirely. A stupid detail now but will be important to an upcoming chapter.


	3. Nightmares

On their way to Domino City, the boat tossed and turned on the ocean. Miraculously, Hassleberry, Jaden, and Syrus were granted a triple room and Bastion a single. That didn't mean much, however, since Jaden was absent from their triple. Bastion had been having sea sickness, so he left the other two behind to comfort him as he vomited. Hassleberry awoke to loud screaming from the bed across the room. His eyes darted open and he jumped out of bed.

"Soldier?! What happened?!"

Syrus sat on his bed, panting. He looked like he had just run a marathon. When he saw the eyes on him, he panicked.

"N-Nothing! I just... um..."

"Soldier, that wasn't just 'nothing.' You look like you just ran for your life!"

Syrus just continued to shake his head. There was no way he could tell Hassleberry. He'd make too much fun of him.

"No, really! I just-"

"Be honest Private, what happened? Did someone chase after you? Is one of those duel spirits hanging around here? Is someone dangerous on the loose-"

"It was just a bad dream, alright?!"

He clenched his eyes shut, expecting to be immediately hounded by laughter. He was surprised when he wasn't.

"Oh..." Hassleberry walked to the edge of the bed, glancing into Syrus' eyes for a moment to silently ask permission. When his friend nodded, he awkwardly sat down at the edge. "So, eh, what did ya... dream about?"

Syrus studied him hesitantly. He expected everything he said to be under scrutiny. Any form of tearing down his masculinity was fair game, and Hassleberry knew all the buttons to push. It made him almost confused at how he was willing to help him in this situation rather than tear him down.

"Well, uh... I was running. And there was this person. They were chasing me. With a knife."

"Ah..."

"And, I uh, tripped. And I fell. And they got me and started stabbing into my back. And then I heard more people coming. I thought they were there to help me. But they were just more people with knives. And one of them got me in the face. That's when I woke up." He shivered, still feeling the imaginary wounds on his back.

"Oh... that sounds like a pretty scary dream, private..."

He went to put a hand on his shoulder. Syrus instinctively inched away after a few seconds of contact. Whenever Hassleberry touched people, it was some kind of rough playful nudge or a hard, overexaggerated pat on the back. Never gentle, though his previous action said otherwise. He seemed a little offended when his friend backed away, but gave no ill will when he retracted his gesture. He just folded his hands awkwardly, staring into the floor.

"Are you gonna feel okay sleeping the rest of the night?"

"...yeah. I usually fall back to sleep pretty quickly…"

"So this has happened before?"

Syrus turned away. It wasn't until then that he realized this may not be the best time to ask that question.

"Sorry, nevermind…"

He closed his eyes, sighing and letting his mind wander. He leaned against the wall, swinging his arms back to be like a pillow behind his head.

"Umm… aren't you going to go back to sleep?"

Hassleberry opened one eye, looking at him, and then shrugged.

"Sure."

He flipped his legs up and stretched out across the bed. Syrus swung himself to the side as quickly as he could to avoid making physical contact. In fact, he darted so quickly, he almost fell off the bed.

"Wh-what the?! Hassleberry, when I said 'go to sleep,' I meant in your own bed!"

"But aren't you goin' to be afraid goin' back to sleep?"

"Yes- wait- no- I— SLEEP IN YOUR OWN BED!"

Hassleberry wasn't listening. He just stayed lying down, going out of his way to leave enough room for his friend. Syrus sighed, silently wishing Jaden was there to talk some sense into him. Then again, knowing him, he might have insisted on jumping into the bed as well, making the small mattress even more cramped than it already was.

When he layed back down, it was weird having the second body next to him. He tried his best not to think about it. To distract himself, he crumpled up as many sheets as he could to completely cover himself. It was difficult with Hassleberry weighing down the other half of the blanket. He turned opposite to the person next to him.

"I'm just tryin' to help," he insisted with a yawn.

"Yeah, I don't think this is helping!"

He sighed in despair, holding his hand out to Syrus' face. He never actually made contact, waiting for him to say something. Syrus observed the hand and frowned.

"...what? What do you want?"

"Can I… pat ya on the head or something? That always helped me."

"Ugh. Fine."

Not even a second after the word was said, his hand immediately landed on Syrus' scalp. He hissed a little out of annoyance, but didn't fight back against the gesture. After a few seconds, it actually soothed him a little, allowing the bad dream to slowly fade from his mind. Although he was currently on his side, he didn't actually feel comfortable that way, so he slowly turned onto his back.

When he started to snore, Hassleberry took that as an indication that his work was done. He intended to get back up and go back to his own bed, but something stopped him. Syrus was actually clinging onto his arm now as some strange kind of support. At that point, what was he to do? Pry himself off and risk waking him? Instead, he smiled, lying back.

Eventually, Syrus let go of his arm, but instead of lying on his own, he graduated to his torso. This made Hassleberry feel a little uncomfortable, but he let him stay. As he began to succumb to sleep, he put his arm around him in a bit of a side hug. Despite the fact he was beginning to lose consciousness, he promised himself that he wouldn't fall asleep, and that he'd get up and leave as soon as his friend's grip loosened.

He was asleep himself within minutes.

...

A few hours later, Jaden walked into the room without knocking. It was four oclock, and he knew that Hassleberry and Syrus wouldn't be up until eight at the earliest. He quietly stepped in, and gasped at what he saw. Both of his friends were in Syrus' bed, passed out, Syrus holding tightly onto Hassleberry while his arm was around him. At least a couple dozen questions came to his mind, and he was even debating on asking them right then and there. But he ignored his instincts to wake them up in confusion and climbed into his own bed.


	4. Coffee

When Syrus woke up, he found himself clinging tightly onto Hassleberry. He pushed himself away so hard, he fell off the bed, waking up Hassleberry in the process. Syrus' eyes were so fixated on the stranger in his bed that he didn't even realize Jaden uncomfortably coughing in the background. Despite the fact that Syrus was still flabbergasted, Hassleberry was incredibly cool and calm as he began to wipe the sleep from his eyes.

"Mornin', Sarge!"

Syrus darted his head back, and hopped up onto his legs. He began to panic, finding the words to say. Jaden remained cool, however, while finding words to say himself.

"Good morning, guys. Um…" Jaden studied everything about the two. The panic in one boy's face but genuine calm in the other. It was difficult to know what to ask first. "What happened last night?"

Syrus' memory of the night before was coming back. The nightmare! What could he tell him now? That he was such a coward that he needed someone to soothe him back to sleep? How humiliating! But he didn't want Jaden to leave the reasons for Hassleberry sleeping in his bed up to the imagination…

"Somebody had a bad dream last night," Hassleberry laughed. "I needed to help him calm down. If I didn't, he might've been too scared to fall back asleep."

There was the condescending tone Syrus had been expecting last night. But why was he acting normally now? He shook the thoughts from his head, angrily stomping onto his feet.

"Hey! You just laid down on my bed without being invited! I told you to get off! But noooooo!"

He rolled his eyes, hopping out. Although Syrus' words made sense, Jaden was somewhat unconvinced. Even if Hassleberry just plopped onto his bed without asking, it didn't explain why Syrus let him stay. No, he didn't just let him stay. He was actively holding onto him!

"Uh huh…" Jaden awkwardly continued to fix his hair in front of the mirror. A faint yawn escaped his lips. After a few seconds of silence, Syrus was eager to change the subject.

"When did you come back last night, Jay? You look pretty tired…"

"About four in the morning."

"Four in the morning?! _Four in the morning?! _Jaden, that's insane!"

He sighed, nodding his head.

"Bastion was really seasick last night! Poor guy couldn't sleep for hours, he was too busy throwing up."

Syrus groaned a little in pity, then glared at Hassleberry in the corner of his eye. He began walking out of the room, him close behind.

When both of them were out of earshot of Jaden, Syrus turned around, holding his hand out to stop Hassleberry in his tracks. He turned his head to the side, confused.

"You slept… in my bed?" Hassleberry shrugged, but Syrus continued to fume. "It's bad enough you just dropped in without being invited! But you didn't leave?!"

"I didn't want to wake you up, Private. And you, uh, clung onto me…"

"Yeah right!"

Although the memory of how they woke up seemed to corroborate his story, he refused to believe it. There's no way he would ever hold onto Hassleberry, even unknowingly in his sleep. Clearly, something weird happened last night, but he refused to dwell on it now.

...

As Bastion and Jaden talked a little about their plans for the day, Syrus decided it would be the best time to get a coffee. Unfortunately, Hassleberry seemed to have the same idea. This irritated him, but he refused to acknowledge it verbally. Instead, he turned away from Hassleberry, flinching at every movement he saw him make in the corner of his eye.

"Hey, Private," he whispered.

"...what," he asked through clenched teeth.

"How's the black coffee in this brand? Is it any good?"

"I dunno! I don't drink that bitter stuff!"

"What?! Bitterness is the whole point o' coffee!"

"No it's not! You can have caffeine without it being disgusting!"

"Oh yeah? And how do you make it not 'disgusting'?"

"Some mocha and vanilla!"

"Yuck! That is sickeningly sweet, Private!"

"No it's no-"

"May I take your order?"

Syrus shook his head, realizing he'd finally got to the beginning of the line. He cleared his throat and began to order.

"Sorry. May I please have a hot-"

"Egh. And you like hot coffee too?"

"Yeah! It's the only way to have coffee!"

"No it's not! Iced is the way to go! It's cool, it's refreshing…"

"It's not real coffee."

"Yeah it i-"

"Ahem." Syrus turned his attention back to the woman taking his order.

"Again, sorry. Mocha latte."

Hassleberry scoffed again.

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

"Okay and you, sir?"

...

As they waited for their coffees, they continued to bicker about which kind of coffee was superior.

"Number four," one woman called when she placed the coffee out. Syrus double checked his receipt and groaned. What he got wasn't a hot coffee. It was iced.

"Ha!" Hassleberry started laughing hysterically.

"Number five!"

He went silent when he saw his coffee was hot.

"Ha!" Syrus smiled in a smug manner. But when he looked back down at the coffee, he frowned. He mixed it around with the straw, looking at it worriedly. He sipped it and immediately hated it. Hassleberry made the same face when he sipped his.

"I'm gonna be honest," Hassleberry said. "I don't think I can drink this."

"Yeah, me neither…"

He turned his gaze towards the other coffee.

"Wanna trade?"

Syrus looked at him like he had three heads. But it didn't seem like a _terrible_ idea.

"...sure."

They traded and both took a sip. It was bad, but not as bad as what they'd tried previously.

"How can ya' drink this," Hassleberry complained. "It's so sweet!"

"I'm sorry," Syrus sarcastically shot back. "Would you rather have this one instead?"

He paused for a moment, and sighed.

"No, guess not…"

"Then quit complaining."

After a few sips to get used to it, they actually began to enjoy the flavor of the other's coffee. But there was no way they would ever be willing to admit it.


	5. Stuck

After their loss to Frost and Thunder, everything went black. When he next awoke, he looked around. He seemed to be in a technical landscape. Almost like the inside of his computer. He looked around confused, then tried to move his hand. But it felt different. He pulled his hand up in front of his face, but it wasn't a hand. It was a wheel.

He immediately jumped up.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Eh…? Sy?!"

Hassleberry opened his eyes to see that his body wasn't even his body. He looked down at his arms. Not human arms, but smaller t-rex ones? He began walking backwards, not realizing Syrus was behind him, doing the same. When their backs touched, they ran forward and behind parallel walls. Then, they peeked out.

"Hassleberry, is that you…?"

"Syrus?"

He poked his head out to look study his friend more. Then, he took a deep breath in and started laughing hysterically.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU LOOK RIDICULOUS!"

"HEY! YOU DON'T LOOK MUCH BETTER!"

"HEY!"

Syrus glanced around, and a sudden pit got into his stomach.

"Where are we?"

Hassleberry started to pay attention to his surroundings as well.

"I'd say we're inside a computer."

"How are we gonna get out?"

"I dunno. Let's try to find a way."

After about an hour or so, Syrus was getting antsy.

"Unbelievable," he groaned. Not only was he stuck as a car now, but Hassleberry was the only person in this foreign place with him. If he was given the choice, he'd rather have been alone.

"Hey," he objected. "It's not like I'm enjoyin' this either!"

"Oh really? I thought you always wanted to be a dinosaur!"

"Yeah but not like this!"

He frowned, turning his back to his supposed "friend."

"You know, it's your fault we're in this mess!"

"MY fault? I was the one doin' most of the work, soldier!"

"Were not!"

"Was too!"

"Oh yeah? Then how did we get in this mess?"

"Cause' of your useless strategy! With my deck, I could've taken both of em' on at once, and I'd be able to win!"

"Pfft! No you wouldn't! If you couldn't beat them in a tag duel, what makes you think you could beat them 1 on 2?"

"Cause' I wouldn't have your cards weighin' me down!"

Syrus scoffed under his breath and began to search the hallways for any kind of exit.

"I don't know why you're saying that when I beat you just a couple weeks ago!"

"Hey! Don't forget YOU lost to ME when we first met!"

As he began to go off his own way, Hassleberry pondered for a moment.

"You know, I've been thinkin'-"

"Wow. That's unlike you."

He gritted his teeth and unwillingly continued.

"MAYBE if we weren't so busy fightin' each other, it'd make it easier to tag duel?"

Syrus considered his point for a moment. It was a considerable observation. But he was unwilling to submit, and he sure knew Hassleberry would refuse the prospect as well. So he remained silent, not budging from his stance. Hassleberry knew his apparent silence reflected this fact, so he unwillingly continued.

"Um... maybe instead of fightin', we should say nice things bout' each other?"

"Like that's ever going to happen!"

Even still, Hassleberry was determined to test his theory.

"Sure it can! I'll try first! Um... it's nice that you stopped being so bad you got into Ra Yellow after trying a bit."

"Wow, thanks."

Hassleberry, unable to detect the sarcasm in his voice, perked his head up and took it as confirmation his plan worked.

"See? That wasn't so hard! Your turn!"

Syrus groaned, but unwillingly played along, deciding to use the opportunity for a passive aggressive insult.

"Uh... being a dinosaur really suits you. You're a big block head that can brute force your way through anything, which is impressive for YOU."

Hassleberry was surprised by the apparent honesty. He couldn't tell if his compliment was really that, but he hoped from the context given that it was. He was almost hopeful that someone recognized his determination. Syrus interpreted his surprise as an indication he wanted more, so he unwillingly obliged.

"Like it's not like I wanted to be a car! So you got lucky you got something that suits you!"

"I think it suits you!" Syrus glared at him, offended. So he elaborated. "It's eh…" He struggled to find a word to say. "It's cute."

Syrus inherently blushed at the notion of being called "cute." He was glad that he had his back to him, else he might have saw. Was that a compliment he actually liked…?

When they heard Jaden and Aster's voices down the green and black halls, they scattered into alternate directions.


	6. Rex Raptor

It was now dinner time, and Syrus was already eating his food. When he saw Hassleberry come up, he closed his eyes. He opened one to glare at him when he sat down.

"So," he snarled, "I was wondering. What'd you ever end up doing with that jacket you put Jaden's face on?"

"Oh? That thing? I threw it away…"

His words were hollow and empty. Syrus wanted to say something, but forbade himself from showing vulnerability to their tense relationship. Instead, he did the next best thing. He looked away, waiting for one of their other friends to hopefully help him.

"Are you still upset about losing that duel," Bastion asked.

"Yeah," he whispered. "It's the third one this week! I can't remember the last time I was on a losing streak that bad…"

Syrus couldn't help but feel guilt about being the person to cause his losing streak. Granted, he wasn't certain that was the case. Hassleberry had won two or three other duels between their initial conflict and this downwards spiral, but he couldn't help but wonder if that loss caused this. That combined with his comment referencing what started their duel made him feel absolutely awful. He sipped his water uncomfortably.

"I'm sure the next one will be better," Alexis encouraged. "I mean, you're not that bad!"

"Hmm… yeah, but…" He slowly started playing with his food before taking a few bites. "I'm startin' to wonder… I mean, I thought I'd get into Obelisk Blue when I did good on that entrance exam. But maybe I wasn't _that _good?"

He went back to playing with his food.

Syrus actually started to feel… bad? Seeing the energy depleted out of someone was almost... disheartening. He wanted to offer some kind of reassurance, but stopped himself every time. Hassleberry was a bully to him the first day they met, and it didn't seem like he'd stop trying to be anytime soon. So he was always required to have his guard up.

But just seeing the sad expression on his face couldn't help but sway him a little bit.

…

Syrus didn't want to tell Hassleberry anything until after they were alone. Regardless of how he tended to treat him, he was still a good person at heart. And the idea of letting someone continue to go into a downward spiral upset him greatly. Especially if he was the cause.

Bastion had already left to the Ra Yellow dorm, and Alexis was nowhere in sight. Jaden was gone- his newfound bond with Jesse had him out late most nights now. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he might have thought it amusing that he wasn't upset about this. His entire relationship with Hassleberry was predicated on the fact they were both fighting over Jaden's friendship. How ridiculous was it that he didn't care that he was off with some other guy while he half heartedly attempted to comfort his rival?

When the two got to their room, Hassleberry unlocked the door and began opening it.

"H-Hassleberry..."

He turned around begrudgingly. He seemed annoyed at the mere idea of someone talking to him. He looked down at the upperclassman.

"What is it, pipsqueak?"

"HEY-! I was GOING to let you know that I looked at some of the people coming to school tomorrow!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he started to mockingly say as he rolled his eyes. "That's reaaal intererstin'." He walked into the room and began to stretch out his blankets across his bed so they wouldn't be uneven when he got in.

"One of them is Rex Raptor!"

He stopped what he was doing almost immediately. He turned back to look at Syrus.

"As in _the_ Rex Raptor?"

"Yeah."

"As in, the biggest dino duelist to be invited to _Duelist Kingdom_?"

"That's right."

It was hard to tell whether he was starstruck or excited. Either way, Syrus should've seen what was coming next.

"Well, then! Guess I just have to duel 'im and prove I'm the superior dino duelist!"

As glad as Syrus was to see Hassleberry's eyes light up again, something still worried him in the back of his head. What if he couldn't win? What if Rex Raptor completely wiped the floor with him? He couldn't encourage him to go, what if he lost? But he also couldn't discourage him, what if it made him more self-conscious than he already was? So, he sighed. Hassleberry was happy now, but how long would it last?

He stayed up late that night wondering what he should do. What could he do…? Hassleberry would never accept his help. And considering his losing streak, he might not even be inclined to listen to Jaden. Knowing him, he'd probably try to win this duel with absolutely no help whatsoever to "prove himself".

He peaked up at the bunks above him. Both Hassleberry and Jaden were passed out. He knew what he had to do…

…

After his presentation was done, Rex just sighed to himself. This was the best he could do? Giving half-hearted presentations at duel academies? If only Joey Wheeler hadn't taken his Red Eyes Black Dragon...

"Hey!"

He immediately snapped out of his thoughts. He was unamused when he saw a few students coming towards him, one coming far quicker than the rest. He was of a larger build, and in one of the Ra Yellow dorms. However, his uniform was unique. He had cut off the sleeves and it was a slightly darker shade of yellow.

"Rex Raptor," the student quickly asked.

"Yeah." He rolled his eyes. "Look, I said this at the end of the presentation, I'm not givin' autogra-"

"I WANNA DUEL YOU!"

"Duel…?" He looked down at him from atop the platform. "Listen, kid. I'm the one givin' lessons. So there's no way you can win."

"Come on! I'm a duelin' dino, too! I can win! I-"

"Now, now Hassleberry," Crowler interrupted. "Mr. Raptor here is our guest, so we musn't-"

"You really another dino duelist?"

Hassleberry smiled and nodded and showed off a couple dinosaur cards. Rex merely nodded.

"Fine then. One duel. Then I'm outta here."

Hassleberry was practically beaming. He looked back at his friends and smiled. Jaden gave him a high five.

"You got this, dude," he whispered.

Jaden was the only one who wasn't scared about Hassleberry possibly losing. Even Alexis, who supported the idea, was still worried about the situation. Even Syrus was on edge. However, he was ironically more confident in him than anyone else. For a reason that nobody knew.


	7. Dueling With Dinos

Rex Raptor had a Black Tyranno on the field at 2600 ATK. It had just defeated Hassleberry's Giant Rex, knocking his life points down to 1000. Rex still stood at a respectable 3000 life points. Not only that, but Rex was the only one with a monster on the field. Hassleberry had only one card to his name: a face down spell card.

Syrus felt a little bit of panic. This duel wasn't turning out in Hassleberry's favor anymore. He hadn't been the same since his losing streak, and losing to Rex Raptor, of all people, would absolutely destroy him.

He would never admit it openly, but he wanted Hassleberry to win this duel. Really bad. Another thing on the list of things he'd never admit to was the fact he missed their constant quips. With the energy drained out of him, it felt like he was just slogging through the day. Something about not waking up to whatever wisecrack or challenge he had for him was upsetting somehow, though he couldn't place his finger on why.

He never showed these emotions openly. He cheered on Hassleberry's name once or twice alongside Jaden, but left most of the cheerleading up to their mutual friends. For the most part, he just sat on the sidelines, watching the duel unfold.

All the while, he was secretly waiting for Hassleberry to draw the card he snuck into his deck. He'd really wanted to give it to him for a while now, but he knew he would be too proud to accept it. As a result, he waited until both his roommates were fast asleep the night prior, and slipped the card in without a single soul knowing. It wasn't anything personal, it was for his friend's own good. At least, that's what he told himself.

Hassleberry seemed more confident than he had been the past couple days, but he was still a bit shaky. He grabbed a card.

"I draw…"

Although Syrus had no idea what his hand looked like, he could tell he drew the card. The confused face he made said it all: he didn't recognize the new card in his hand. He seemed to mouth the word "what," and resisted the urge to flip through the deck of cards lying beside him. Instead, he looked at the rest of his hand to ensure it was the right deck. It appeared to be.

He observed the cards in his hand curiously for a moment, then smirked.

"Hurry up and move already," Rex groaned. "Stalling isn't gonna stop the Jurassic period from ending!"

Hassleberry just laughed in response.

"I'll 'ave you know I've survived the end of the Jurassic period before," he chuckled, placing down a monster. "So I can survive anything you've got at me!"

The said monster he placed down was Black Stego, a monster with 1200 ATK points. He made sure it stayed in ATK position.

"WHAAAAAAAAAT'S HE DOING?!" Jaden and Syrus yelled that question simultaneously.

"Don't you know Black Tyranno's effect," Alexis asked. Jaden looked at her inquisitively while Syrus huffed down, beside himself. "If the only cards the opposing player controls are monsters in defense position, it can attack them directly!"

"But…" Jaden still had pause. "Why…? He has a face down card, if it was in defense position, then he wouldn't take any damage in the attack!"

"Yeah!" Syrus was quick to agree, causing Alexis to turn her head. "There has to be a better card he could play right now!"

He was still waiting impatiently for Hassleberry to play that one elusive spell card. He didn't.

"I end my turn," is what he said instead.

It made Syrus feel almost… upset? He'd given him a card to help him, was he still not going to use it? Was it because he was too proud to use a card he didn't recognize? Or was it something else? Wondering if his effort to help was wasted, he looked down at the bleachers, feeling almost rejected in a way.

Alexis perked her head up, worried.

"He's not going to play anything else? And he didn't use the card on the field? He's opening himself up for some serious damage!"

Jaden nodded.

"What's he planning…?"

Syrus frowned.

Rex grinned.

"Good. This'll be quick. Black Tyranno, attack!"

"Not so fast! I reveal my face down card!"

The face down card Hassleberry had put on the field was Amber Pitfall, a trap card.

"With this card," he said, "your dino's not attackin' my monster! Or any monster again!"

This was part of Amber Pitfall's infinite effect. Black Tyranno could no longer attack, but it was still at 1800 DEF.

"Lucky move," Rex chuckled. "I end my turn. It doesn't matter, though. There's no way your Black Stego could defeat my Black Tyranno, even in defense position!"

Hassleberry drew a card, then smiled.

"Who said Black Stego was gonna be the one to attack him, soldier?"

Rex panicked for a second when he saw a second monster come onto the field. It was Sabersaurus, a dinosaur card with 1900 ATK. It wasn't much, but just enough to defeat Black Tyranno.

"Sabersaurus, finish his Black Tyranno! Then Black Stego, attack his life points directly!"

After the big hit was done, Rex was down from 3000 life points to 1800. He looked concerned, but still smiled.

"That doesn't matter! I still have almost twice the amount of life points you do! I'm not even close to done yet!"

"You sure about that, sunshine?"

He placed a new card down onto the field.

"I activate the field spell Remove Bomb! I get to remove the top five cards of my deck from play! For every monster I draw, you lose 300 life points!"

This shocked everyone watching, but most of all, Hassleberry's friends watching from the distance.

"I didn't know he had that card," Alexis commented. "Did you?"

Jaden shrugged.

"I had no idea! But it looks like it really saved him this time!"

Syrus couldn't help but smile, at least a little. At first, he assumed it was a smugness, an example of his superiority. But it wasn't that entirely. He knew that he'd helped his friend, and that's all he needed to know. To see that Hassleberry was this happy and confident now, all thanks to him, was incredibly uplifting.

Somewhere amidst their discussion, the five cards were banished. Four were monsters, bringing Rex's life points down to 600. Hassleberry had the upper hand by 400 life points. Things were really turning around.

Syrus was beginning to have an internal monologue with himself.

_I'm glad,_ he thought. _I haven't seen him this happy in days! I don't… I don't think I've ever seen him duel like this. I didn't know he could be this brave, taking risks like that. _His thoughts were cut short when Hassleberry turned around to face his friends. He hadn't noticed it, but Jaden was now going into a frenzy cheering him on. His face turned towards them to show the biggest smile he'd seen in days. He waved to his friends, and Syrus couldn't stop a smile from appearing on his own face. _He's so beautiful… wait. NO. NONONONONONONONONONO-_

"Sy?"

Jaden waved a hand in front of his face and he flinched. He didn't realize it, but his face was beet red. He shook his head to try and rid his thoughts. He slowly gazed back at his friend, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

"…yeah," he asked.

"Are you okay? You suddenly look… out of it."

Syrus bolted up immediately, standing awkwardly straight. He momentarily blocked Chazz's view of the duel, making him growl until he took an unnaturally large step away.

"Yup. I'm fine. Justgonnagoforawalknow!"

Jaden grew worried.

"Are you sure? Want me to come with-"

"NO. I'LL BE FINE ALL BY MYSELF."

He did a speed walk away, leaving Jaden worried. He wanted to follow him, but there was no way he was gonna leave Hassleberry alone; he needed the support. So he sat in his seat, focused back on the duel in front of him.


	8. Denial

_No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! _Syrus kept repeating that mantra over and over again in his head. Perhaps he thought doing so would erase his previous idea of Hassleberry being "beautiful." It didn't work.

_Come on, Syrus! What are you thinking? There's nothing attractive about him! He's so… _He scrambled his mind looking for anything to say. The only adjectives he could come up with were positive. Brave, determined, witty… _He's such a jerk! Why is this even a thing I'm thinking about? I'm gonna stop thinking about him, right now!_

Of course, after he let his mind go blank and took a deep breath, the voice he was specifically looking to avoid was heard.

"You didn't really think you could defeat me usin' my fellow dinos, did you?"

Of course. His voice was loud and clear, echoing out from the arena and into the hallway. He probably should've left the building altogether if he wanted to forget about him. But the idea of leaving never even crossed his mind.

"What do you keep going on about," Rex asked.

"You don't know?"

_Oh geez…_ he thought, _is he gonna go on about having "Dino DNA" again?_

"I got Dino DNA!"

Syrus couldn't hold back his laugh. He observed where he was. If he walked into the arena, he would have a perfect view of the action from the side. That means he'd be perfectly able to see Hassleberry, much better than where he sat with the others… not that it mattered though!

He peaked out of the door. He wasn't paying attention to the field. Just the person in front of him.

"You're crazy," Rex yelled.

"Am not, soldier! One day, during a routine dig, a freak avalanche came down and nearly broke my leg in two!"

As he went on with his story, Syrus focused not on his words, but his face. He'd heard the tale at least a dozen times before; Hassleberry would never shut up about it. But this was the first time he physically observed him giving this speech. Something about the sincerity in his face was almost… endearing.

He shook his head of his thoughts and slipped back behind the door.

_This is nothing_, he continued to tell himself. _It was one stupid thought! One stupid thought! That means nothing! Everyone thinks something that makes no sense at one point or another! So this. Means. Nothing! Besides, he's a jerk! I can never like a jerk like that!_

After a few seconds, he suddenly felt bad for that statement.

_But… he helped me when I had that nightmare. Nobody's done that before. Not even Zane before he went… crazy. Maybe calling him a jerk is a little too mean. He's so nice when he needs to be… _

_...what am I saying? Stop thinking these things, Syrus! STOP!_

"I gotta hand it to ya," Hassleberry laughed, "you got some toughness in ya. But it takes a little more than that for a dino to survive the stone age!"

Syrus tried to stifle a laugh. How he missed that voice…

_Hassleberry_, the thought, _that is almost endearingly stupid… I'm so glad you're back._

He grew flustered, then bolted out of the arena as quickly as he could.

...

Syrus didn't rejoin the group right away. He was still recovering from his intruding thoughts. What disturbed him was that they might not have come up out of nowhere. They very well might have been there the whole time. Despite being so worried and scared, he couldn't avoid Hassleberry the rest of the day. He didn't want to seem heartless after all. However, that didn't stop him from eavesdropping on the initial conversation before merging into the group.

"Where'd you get that card," Jaden asked. It wasn't surprising that he'd be the one to ask that question. He was the one that helped Hassleberry create his deck after all.

"Honestly," he answered, "I don't really know. But I can sure tell ya something, it helped me in a pinch! Must've been some sudden wave of genius that came over me I forgot about!"

Syrus secretly wanted to correct him and say that it was really his "wave of genius." However, he stopped himself. Hassleberry was so undoubtedly happy at that point in time, he couldn't bear to ruin it.

It was thoughts like that that gave him pause now.

"Hey Sy," Jaden called to him.

Shoot. He'd rather have stayed hidden for a little bit longer, but Jaden saw him, so it was too late to go back. He awkwardly stepped into the group.

"Hey," he said. "What'd I miss? I'm guessing Hassleberry won?"

"Ya didn't miss much," Hassleberry chuckled. "Once I gained the upper hand, it was one turn, and he was finished!"

"Oh…" _He noticed I left…? Stop it! Don't think about that! That doesn't mean anything! _"Good job!"

"Thanks!"

The entire time, Syrus was still trying to downplay everything and act "normal." _Just don't be weird. It's not that hard. Just don't be weird! Don't be weird!_

"...you alright, soldier? You look… off."

"I'm fine! I don't see why you think I'm not fine!" He wasn't fine.


	9. Confession

Author's note: Hey y'all. Sorry about being awol for almost three months. I was gonna take a brief break starting a couple weeks before spring break then come back when school started up again, but then quarantine happened. You'd think that being home 24/7 would make it easier to write fanfiction, but basically all of my writing efforts have been on essays for school since we don't have physical classes now. I have like four chapters I've been sitting on the past couple months before it all started but I've had no chances to write any of the metaphorical glue to hold it all together so to speak. Long story short: I only just finished this chapter last week. Next chapter will be on the way today, since it's one I've been sitting on. I still have to write chapter 11 but after it's done it will be smooth sailing from there. I certainly have the time, since classes just wrapped up. Sorry about being gone. Quarantine's a jerk. Yeah.

The following day, Syrus kept his distance. Not just from Hassleberry, but from everyone. He didn't want anyone to be suspicious. Luckily, the main person he was concerned about, Hassleberry, thought nothing of it. This, however, did concern Jaden greatly.

He tried in vain to talk to Syrus on and off throughout the day. It never worked. He would always default to the excuse of "oh I'm just not feeling well" or "the heat's just getting to me today, that's all." He knew from the offset that couldn't have been true, but with no proof, he had no choice but to let it go.

To Jaden, Syrus and Hassleberry's relationship had defaulted back to normal. If anything, it may have gotten worse. He didn't like that, because he wound up being close to both of them rather quickly. And even though he thought that progress was being made, it turned out he was dead wrong. He decided to force the issue that day before Hassleberry left their room for a makeup quiz.

"Hey Hassleberry," Jaden said before he was out the door. "Maybe we can all chill out tonight at the arena? I guess Chazz is gonna be in a pretty big match tonight?"

"No!" Syrus' answer was immediate. He noticed the eyes on him and fled under his covers. "I-I'm not feeling well!"

Hassleberry shrugged.

"Well, I ain't goin' either, Sarge. Got more deck tunin' to do."

"Okay…"

When the door shut behind him, Jaden looked up worriedly.

"Sy, what's wrong?"

"I'm just sick, Jaden!"

"No you're not!" He stepped up on his bed at the bottom so he could look at Syrus in the middle bunk. "Seriously. What happened?"

"It's… nothing."

"Alright," Jaden sighed. "Well, I'm off to help-"

"Wait!"

Syrus slumped his hand over to grab his arm and stop him from leaving. He blinked curiously at this, then focused his attention back to his friend.

"Yeah...? Is something wrong, Sy?"

"Yes."

"What is it?"

Syrus pulled his arm back and covered his head back under the blanket.

"You can't. Tell. Hassleberry."

"Okay. I won't tell him." Whatever it was, Jaden wasn't surprised that Syrus wouldn't want him to know. He'd been mad at him a lot more than usual lately, though he couldn't tell why.

"I think... I think I have a crush on him."

"Whaaaaaaat?! For how long?!"

"I DON'T KNOW! AndIdon'tknowwhattodo!"

After a few seconds, Jaden realized this answered a question he'd had in the back of his mind for a while now.

"So, wait, that Remove Bomb... did you..."

"I snuck it into his deck while both of you were asleep... his losing streak made him really sad... and I just wanted him back."

"Aww!" Syrus poked his head out of the covers to glare at him. Jaden's immediate instinct was to comment on how cute that was, but then a greater realization hit him in the face before he could. "But wait… it's Hassleberry."

"I know! That's what I'm trying to say!"

"What are you gonna do?"

"I dunno! What should I do?!"

"I dunno!" Jaden looked to the side for a second. "We could ask Atticus-"

"NO! We are NOT telling Atticus! Or anyone else! I don't want a matchmaker!"

"Well, I don't know what you want me to do!"

"Tell me how to stop having a crush on him! I don't like it!"

Jaden's voice began to soften again.

"Um… I really don't think it works like that, buddy…" He sat down on the bed next to him. "Did you think of maybe…"

"I'm _not_ telling him. He'll make fun of me…"

"He wouldn't do that! Look, I know he can be a bit of… well, a jerk, but he's a good guy!" He glanced at the alarm clock in his room. If he didn't leave soon, he'd be late to meet Jesse. "Look, I gotta go help Jesse. I'll see you later, Sy."

"...goodbye…"


	10. Dream Soulmate

That night, the guys ended up chilling in Jaden's room. They were doing what they normally were- sorting through their own decks and coming up with different strategies. However, this night was different. Jaden had just learned Syrus' feelings towards Hassleberry. And so, he decided to help him.

Jaden, indifferent to what his short friend would say in response, gladly took the opportunity to push him into being more brave.

"Sy," he asked, "if you had a crush on anyone, like, a dream soulmate, what would they be like?"

Hassleberry cheered on the question, and Syrus looked back at him, betrayed. He quickly turned his eyes down at the hardwood floor.

"Come on, Private!" Hassleberry slammed his hands down in front of him. "Spit it out!"

"U-ummm..." he looked up for a moment, then down at the floor again. "Strong."

Jaden frowned and Hassleberry cocked his head to the side.

"C'mon, Sy! You gotta give us more than that!"

"And— um, brave."

The two frowned at him, Jaden's more disappointed than the other's.

"I think...! I think that they'd be tough enough to survive almost anything! Li-like... if a meteor hit the planet tomorrow... they'd still be fine! Somehow! Maybe through sheer willpower, or dumb luck..."

Jaden's fingers were crossed that Hassleberry would take the hint. But he wasn't even close. Instead, he slapped him on the back, chuckling.

"So, ya like tough girls, eh? I guess that's why you liked Alexis at one point!"

Syrus chuckled uncomfortably and Jaden almost slapped himself for the situation. He pressed further.

"Yeah, but you don't like her anymore right?" His words were awkwardly stiff. "I mean, you asked her out and stuff and it didn't work out so..." Syrus' face turned pale and he looked away. Not only did he have to deal with dancing around the fact he was indirectly telling Hassleberry he liked him, he was now faced with the cringy memories of when Alexis turned him down, too!

Bastion coughed. Everyone turned their attention to him. He had remained silent most of the night, leading most of them to forget his presence. Although he wasn't informed of Syrus' feelings, he wasn't stupid. It was obvious that something between him and his other roommate had changed, he just wasn't sure what it was. Now Jaden's prodding made the issue all too apparent.

"You also said h— er, they, were brave," he mentioned. "Right? Brave how?"

Jaden made a grateful nod, glad Bastion had dug him out of the hole he had just dug. Syrus groaned. Either Jaden told Bastion, or he had just made it easier for Bastion to figure his secret out. Whatever it was, he would chastise him for it later.

"Brave how? Brave like..." he looked at Hassleberry, then away for a moment. "L-like... I dunno. That kind of brave where you think he's stupid until you see... that a lot of his stupidest actions come from wanting to save his friends."

"'His' friends...?"

Everyone held their breath. Hassleberry was the only one surprised by this. Whether or not he got the whole picture nobody knew. The others could only pray he wouldn't make fun of him for it.

"...oh. I didn't realize you um... 'swing' that way, Private. I..." he looked at Jaden for a moment, then nudged him on the shoulder. "Hey, Bastion! Wanna go for a duel?"

Syrus' heart sank. Now Hassleberry thought he liked JADEN. Jaden's head fell into his hand, and Bastion shook his head.

"No thanks," he said. "That will be quite alright. I need to tune my deck for a while before I deem myself ready to duel you."

Hassleberry sighed, but got up anyways.

"Oh come on!"

"No, Hassleberry."

He quickly made his way to the corner he was in and whispered in his ear.

"You sure we shouldn't give him and the Sarge some alone time...?" He had a sly smile when he said it. Bastion just shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"No. I think it'll be fine."

"Then I'll find somebody else to duel! Bye, soldiers!"

When he got up and walked away, Bastion walked over and leaned into Syrus' ear.

"You know," he whispered, "I wasn't going to tell you this, but after Hassleberry lost to you, he told me you were clearly more qualified to be Jaden's wingman than him."

Syrus blushed a little.

"R-really...?"

"Yes. But now I'm questioning if JADEN'S the one qualified to be YOUR 'wingman'..."

Jaden groaned and laid his head back on his bed.

"I can hear you, you know!"


	11. Chazz

Chazz kept spying on Syrus out of the corner of his eye. He was quiet lately... too quiet. He noticed Jaden had been having secret conversations with him as well. It was almost as if they were planning something.

What was it? Were they working on a new strategy? Bastion seemed to be in the know, whatever it was.

He inched a little closer, trying to catch parts of the conversation in his ear.

"Have you thought about flowers," Jaden whispered.

Syrus shook his head. "That's stupid!"

"You could leave them anonymously..." Bastion offered.

"It can't be anonymous! He has to be honest with his feelings!"

"No!"

So... this was a romantic thing, huh? The first thing that came to his mind was the obvious.

_He's trying to steal Alexis from me_… he thought, _isn't he?!_

It was settled. He was officially stalking these dorks for the rest of the day.

He poked his head from around the corner.

"Alright," Jaden whispered. "Just play it cool."

"You don't even have to make it obvious it's romantic," Bastion offered. "Just say something like..." Chazz couldn't hear the remainder of what he said, but Jaden seemed sold on the idea.

"Yeah! That sounds great!"

Syrus was still skeptical while Jaden beamed at Bastion's supposed genius.

"This is so stupid. Why are you making me do this?"

"Because," Jaden insisted. "You have to get your feelings off your chest sooner or later. And this'll be like... a first step!"

Syrus groaned. Chazz craned his head to see what he was holding. Three white rises. They looked pretty nice. He frowned. He was planning to do something!

He followed closely behind. He had nothing to lose. If it wasn't Alexis he was planning to confess to, he would still have massive ammo with which to tease him. Along the way, Bastion turned around a couple times, sensing they were being followed. But before he could catch who it was, Chazz would always disappear behind a nearby wall or bush. When they got to their destination, a clearing nearby some trees, he climbed up a tree to better conceal himself.

To his surprise, Hassleberry of all people came around the corner. Hassleberry? But didn't he and Syrus hate each other? Why was he planning to help him with a crush? That seemed strange, to say the least.

"What is it, soldiers?"

"U-Umm..." Jaden gave him a little nudge on the back and he straightened up. "Ifoundthesetodaywouldyoulikethem?"

Hassleberry turned his head to the side.

"Why?"

"Oh! W-well..."

Jaden and Bastion were fighting not to speak for him. They just ran behind Hassleberry, making strange hand gestures. Bastion was trying to motion for him to talk while Jaden was making bizarre movements. Even he didn't know what he was trying to communicate.

"You know, since dinosaurs lived in a time where plants and stuff were everywhere... maybe it made you think of it."

Hassleberry turned his head to the side.

"You know roses didn't exist when dinos ruled the Earth, right?"

Bastion was shaking his head while Jaden threw his head back and groaned in despair.

"Y-yeah I knew that! Um... since you don't want them then, maybe you could at least take them back to our room for us?"

He shrugged.

"Okay, sure. I was heading there anyways."

He took the flowers with little thought and began walking back to the Slifer dorm.

Suddenly, something clicked. Chazz had to fight himself to contain his laughter. When Hassleberry was out of sight, he finally stopped holding his breath and laughed so loud, the entire group jumped up in surprise. He held his stomach, falling out of the trees. The fall didn't even hurt him because he was so absorbed in his laughter. He was gasping for breath when he next spoke, pointing at Syrus.

"YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON HASSLEBERRY?!"

A look of horror sprawled across everybody's face.

"N-NO I DON'T!"

Syrus' face went beet red, conforming Chazz's suspicions. He burst out laughing even harder. Jaden ran up to him.

"SHHHH! SHHH! Keep quiet!"

"WHY?! IN CASE HASSLE—!" He couldn't even finish the sentence without bursting into laughter. At this point, Jaden began to worry about Chazz more than be mad at him, as he was sure he was going to pass out. After catching his breath, he spoke, only half calmly. "In case Hassleberry hears me?!"

"Come on, Chazz! You don't have to be a jerk about it!"

He was panting when he mustered the power to stand up.

"He's right, Chazz."

Alexis revealed herself, coming out from amongst the trees. Jaden perked up in surprise.

"Alexis...?"

Syrus stood up straight.

"H—how long have you been there?!"

"I came here when I heard screaming."

"How much did you hear?"

"Enough."

Syrus put a face onto his forehead.

"Ugh! Is the whole school gonna find out?! First Bastion, now Chazz and Alexis..."

Jaden gulped, looking around. Was this a bad time to let him know he asked Jesse for advice? Yeah, probably.


	12. Stuck Part 1

The group came to an entrance of a large cave. Syrus, Hassleberry, Chazz, Alexis, and Atticus were there. There was only one person: Jaden Yuki.

"Did Jaden really go in there," Alexis wondered. Syrus looked down at the note in his hand. He held it out a little further so the others could read it.

_Hey guys,_ it read. _If I'm not back by 10, I'll be in the cave by the river. Don't worry, though! I'm sure I'll be fine!_

While everyone took a look at the note for themselves, Syrus could feel Hassleberry above him. Because he was so tall, his presence was almost impossible to ignore. He tried his hardest to focus, but stopped reading about halfway through.

"And he just left this on his bed," Alexis asked. Syrus reluctantly nodded.

"Then what are we waiting for," Atticus butted in. "Let's go!"

The entire trek through the cave, Hassleberry remained silent. It was a surprise that Chazz wasn't being more vocal, though it was probably for the better. It was mostly good for Syrus' sake. He wasn't entirely sure why Chazz seemed to be harping on Syrus more than usual lately, but he didn't really care enough to ask. It didn't seem like something that would involve him, so what was the point of getting in the middle of it?

Chazz noticed Hassleberry lagging behind and smirked.

"Hey Hassleberry," he said. "You seem pretty far back there. You should come closer to the front... maybe next to Syrus?"

Alexis nudged him, making quick eye contact as a way to tell him to knock it off. Syrus didn't react to this other than charging even further ahead. He walked so quickly, in fact…

"WUAAAAAAAH!"

"SOLDIER?!"

Hassleberry went into a full sprint, barely dodging the others. And in mere moments,

"AHHHHHHHH!"

He went tumbling down into the hole as well. He groaned a little in pain and looked up. It was a pretty steep drop, at least twenty five feet, and it didn't look like a climb either could muster. Syrus whined a little from his own pain.

"Are you guys alright?!" Alexis was calling them, panicked. Syrus groaned, making Hassleberry aware of his presence once again. He reached out a hand to his shoulder.

"You alright, soldie-"

Syrus made a yelp, hopping right up and flying back at least five feet. He sighed, yelling back up to the group.

"I think we're fine! Just a lil' roughed up!"

"Thank goodness!"

At this point, Chazz was laughing hysterically. He laughed so hard, he almost fell into the pit with them, but immediately willed himself not to do so.

"HAAAA! OHMYGOD I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" He began making kissy faces at them, particularly at Syrus. Although Hassleberry was particularly oblivious to what he was insinuating, Syrus was all but too aware. He sighed. Alexis slapped Chazz to make him stop. A quick moment later, Syrus' eyes burst open. He had just realized something even more alarming.

"Oh no— Jaden! You don't think he fell into a pit like this, too, do you?! He could have gotten seriously hurt!"

Alexis began frantically looking around.

"Umm… Atticus!"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know if there are any ropes around here?! Maybe we can bring them back up!"

"I think so! But not until further down!"

Syrus sighed.

"Oh no…"

Alexis called back down.

"Guys, we're gonna go deeper into the cave to look for Jaden! If we find rope long enough, we'll come right back and pull you up!"

"And if you don't?!"

"Don't worry! You'll be fine! Just stay put!"

As the group walked away, Syrus couldn't help but grumble to himself.

"It's not like we can go anywhere."

Hasslberry laughed, which made Syrus back up into the wall. He sighed, and looked away from his friend to try and make him feel less uncomfortable.


	13. Stuck Part 2

Syrus slid down the wall for the twentieth time, at least.

"Give it up, soldier," Hassleberry sighed. "You're clearly not gonna' get up there!"

"I'm getting out of here if it's the last thing I do!"

Hassleberry shook his head. Syrus sighed, gazing up at the hole above them. Crawling up the wall was obviously getting him nowhere. He gazed at Hassleberry out of the corner of his eye. It was something he was used to doing at this point. He noted all the things he found attractive about him, his strength and determination. But then he realized his height when compared to him. He paused, facing him then looking up at the opening.

"Um… what if you threw me?"

"I'm not throwin' you, private."

"Well do you have any better ideas?"

He rolled his eyes and got down on his knees.

"Listen, pipsqueak. You're pretty small, but I doubt I'd be able to throw you up there. But maybe…" he motioned upwards at a particularly large ledge. "If ya get onto my shoulders, you'll be able to reach there!"

Syrus still seemed skeptical, but quickly hopped onto his shoulders nonetheless. Hassleberry stepped back up, and Syrus struggled to stay in balance. To help him, he grabbed his knees lightly to hold him steady. He slowly walked over to the ledge.

"...any luck?"

"...almost… there…"

Syrus reached up as high as he could to get a decent grasp on the wall. It was to no avail. Hassleberry searched around for something he could possibly stand on to get higher ground. Of course, there was nothing.

_Of all the places in this cave,_ he thought, _of course we end up somewhere without any rocks. How does that even happen? Caves are basically made of rocks!_

After a few seconds of trying, he finally managed to latch onto a small ledge. "Aha!" He flung himself upwards off of Hassleberry's shoulders, grabbing onto a small hole in the wall with his other and placing his foot on a small ledge. It immediately crumbled under his weight, and his foot slipped down the wall. He clung onto the hole, but not for long, because his fingers slipped in mere seconds.

"Wa-aaaah!"

When he fell, he didn't hit the ground. When he opened his eyes, it turned out Hassleberry had caught him bridal style. He flew back into the opposite wall and his face immediately turned red.

Hassleberry rolled his eyes, sitting down. His main priority now was to accept the situation, and so he didn't even notice Syrus brought his hand up to hide his blushing face. One thing was sure: he couldn't wait for the others to be there.

"Where are they…" he murmered to himself. "When are they coming back?"

As he continued frantically whispering, Hassleberry sat down to take out his deck and flip through his cards. When Syrus noticed this, he couldn't hold back one of his biggest secrets anymore. He had to tell him.

"Hassleberry." He turned his head once his name was called. "I… I have a confession to make..."

"That I'm the superior duelist?"

Syrus groaned.

"It isn't that, you lug-nut!"

"What is it then?"

"Um..." he motioned towards his deck. "That Remove Bomb field spell..."

Hassleberry quickly fished it out and showed it off.

"This…?"

"That was my card. When you were on your losing streak, I didn't like you being... out of it. So I put it in there to help you..."

Hassleberry stopped shuffling the cards to turn his attention to him.

"You did that for me?"

Syrus immediately turned away.

"SH-SHUT UP, OKAY? You were pretty upset, a-and I thought I was the one who started your losing streak! So… I wanted to help you."

"Oh. That was awfully nice of you."

"Don't mention it." That wasn't entirely the mere expression. He literally hoped he wouldn't mention it.

Hassleberry began going through his deck, looking at the cards thoughtfully. He was mostly going through spell and trap cards he had now, completely bypassing the monsters.

"Ya know," he decided to bring up, "if I'd have known you liked Sarge like that, there's no way I'd have fought ya. You could've just said so, I mean, I don't look at im' like that."

"I don't like him!" Hassleberry studied his expression. His immediate instinct was to assume it was a lie, but something about his eyes seemed so… genuine.

"Then who…?" Before he could finish his sentence, Syrus was indirectly saved.

"Hey guys," Jaden yelled down. "You down there?"

"Jaden?"

"Sarge?"

"We found a rope!" Alexis now chimed in. "We're going to get you back up!"

"Oh thank goodness!"

When the rope came down, Syrus could not go up any faster. Hassleberry waited for him to be about halfway up before climbing behind.

After they finally exited the cave, Hassleberry placed a hand on Syrus' shoulder, silently asking him to stay. Syrus' heart skipped a beat in that moment. What was he going to say? Was it positive? Did he somehow figure out he liked him? Could he have felt the same way? Was he going to get rejected?

"What is it?"

"Well, I was thinkin'... since you gave me your remove bomb, I might as well return the favor." He pulled out a card and showed it to him. "After all, your deck must be short a card!"

Syrus took the card, then looked back at him. It was "card of reversal," a card that could only be used when the player using it had no active cards to their name.

"Thanks… this really seems like a last resort card. That'll definitely come in handy!"

"Yee-up! That's basically what you gave me, right? Who needs two of em'?"

Syrus smiled.

"Thank you…"

"Don't mention it!"

Hassleberry winked then went marching on, and Jaden hung behind. He was slightly excited.

"What was that about," he whispered. "How'd it go?

Syrus held up the card.

"While we were in the cave, I told him about the spell card I gave him. So he gave me this one as thanks!"

"Awww!"

Syrus slapped him, bringing a finger to his mouth to motion him to shush.

"Shut up."

"...he still doesn't know, does he?"

"No. But he doesn't think I like you anymore."

"Phew! Well, that's good! Jesse'll be-" He paused. Syrus glared up at him. Jaden looked to the side like nothing even happened. "I mean," he cleared his throat, "It'll be great when I battle Jesse tomorrow!"

"Jaden."

"Um… what?"

He looked up at him and his nostrils flared.

"He knows, doesn't he?"

"...maybe."

"How long?"

"...maybe since you told me."

Syrus was about to yell before Hassleberry butted in.

"Ey, Sarge!" Syrus managed to flare down his anger when Hassleberry came back. "Ya comin'?"

Jaden took this advantage to squeeze by Syrus and merge back into the group. He was lucky that the others were there. Syrus maintained intense eye contact with Jaden the entire walk back. Jaden sighed. This was going to be a long night, and once Syrus got him alone, he would never hear the end of it...


End file.
